Part III of the Mathematical Tripos (officially Master of Mathematics/Master of Advanced Study) is a one-year

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

s-level taught course in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

offered at the

Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge The Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge comprises the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS) and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). It is housed in the Centre for ...

. It is regarded as one of the hardest and most intensive mathematics courses in the world and is taken by approximately 260 students each year. Roughly one third of the students take the course as a fourth year of mathematical study at Cambridge after Parts IA, IB, and II of the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a ...

, whilst the remaining two thirds take the course as a one-year course.

History

The

Smith's Prize The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the n ...

Examination was founded by bequest of Robert Smith upon his death in 1768 to encourage the study of more advanced mathematics than that found in the undergraduate course. T. W. Körner notes In 1883 this was replaced by an exam called ''Part III'' and the Smith's Prize awarded for an essay rather than examination. In 1886 this exam was renamed ''Part II'', and later in 1909 ''Part II, Schedule B''. In 1934 it was again renamed ''Part III''. In the 1980s the ''Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics'' was introduced; for those students successfully completing Part III of the Mathematical Tripos in Easter Term 2011 CASM was replaced by two new degrees, the ''

Master of Mathematics A Master of Mathematics (or MMath) degree is a specific advanced integrated Master's degree for courses in the field of mathematics. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, the MMath is the internationally recognized standard qualification after a fo ...

'' (M.Math.) and ''

Master of Advanced Study A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

'' (M.A.St.). All who have passed the course since 1962 are entitled to these new degrees. The first retrospective M.Math and M.A.St. degrees were conferred as part of a celebration of the University's 800th anniversary. The course is often still referred to as Part III.

Master of Mathematics vs Master of Advanced Study

Students who have completed their undergraduate degree at Cambridge will be awarded both a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(B.A.) and the

(M.Math.) degree for four years of study, provided they have not previously graduated with a B.A. This allows Cambridge graduates to remain eligible for government funding for the course. Progression from Part II of the Mathematical Tripos to Part III normally requires either a first in Part II or very good performances in Parts IB and Part II. Students who complete Part III of the Mathematical Tripos, but did not complete undergraduate studies at Cambridge (or have previously graduated with a B.A.) will be awarded the

(M.A.St.) in Mathematics degree for the one-year course. The program previously resulted in a Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics instead of a Master's degree.

Current course structure

The course lasts one year, divided into three eight-week terms. There are a wide variety of lectures on both pure and applied maths, mostly concentrated in the first two terms. The third term is primarily for examinations (and revision for said examinations) which, together with the option of writing a part III essay (introduced in the 1970s, a miniature

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

of sorts, often in the form of a

literature review A literature review is an overview of the previously published works on a topic. The term can refer to a full scholarly paper or a section of a scholarly work such as a book, or an article. Either way, a literature review is supposed to provid ...

), determine one's final grade entirely.

Grading

The grades available are Fail, Pass (Honours), Merit, and Distinction (the Merit grade was introduced in 2000). Cambridge recognises that in Part III of the mathematical tripos a merit is equivalent to a First Class in the other parts of the Tripos. The level of achievement required for a distinction is yet higher. Traditionally, results are announced in the University's Senate House. Standing on the

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

, the examiner reads out the class results for each student, and printed copies of the results are then thrown to the audience below. The students' exact rankings are no longer announced, but the highest-ranked student is still identified, nowadays by the tipping of the examiner's academic hat when the relevant name is read out.

Prizes

In addition to the grades, there are six associated prizes. Five of these may be awarded at the discretion of the examiners: the

Mayhew Prize The Mayhew Prize is a prize awarded annually by the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge to the student showing the greatest distinction in applied mathematics, primarily for courses offered by DAMTP, but also for some courses offered b ...

for

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

, the

Tyson Medal The Tyson Medal is a prize awarded for the best performance in subjects relating to astronomy at the University of Cambridge, England. It is awarded annually for achievement in the examinations for Part III of the Mathematical Tripos when there is ...

for

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, the Bartlett Prize for

applied probability Applied probability is the application of probability theory to statistical problems and other scientific and engineering domains. Scope Much research involving probability is done under the auspices of applied probability. However, while such res ...

, the Wishart Prize for

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

and the Pure Mathematics Prize for

pure mathematics Pure mathematics is the study of mathematical concepts independently of any application outside mathematics. These concepts may originate in real-world concerns, and the results obtained may later turn out to be useful for practical applications, ...

. Several notable astronomers and astrophysicists have been awarded the

in the history of Part III maths, including

Jayant Narlikar Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (born 19 July 1938) is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). He developed with Sir Fred Hoyle the conformal gravity theory, known as Hoyle� ...

, Ray Lyttleton and

Edmund Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th-century who contributed widely to applied mathema ...

. In addition, the

Thomas Bond Sprague Prize The Thomas Bond Sprague Prize is a prize awarded annually to the student or students showing the greatest distinction in actuarial science, finance, insurance, mathematics of operational research, probability, risk and statistics in the Master ...

is awarded by the Rollo Davidson Trust for distinguished performance in actuarial science,

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, mathematics of operational research,

probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and ...

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Part Iii Of The Mathematical Tripos Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge Mathematics education in the United Kingdom